I'm a Yorkshireman - Monday, August 15, 2016

Hiya Mum, Dad, and Family,

I am so excited to come home but I am also torn. It sounds like every
one has been really busy this week. I haven't got the letter yet, but
it is probably waiting at the mission office for me. Well we had so
many miracles this week. I have really seen the Lord's hand in all
things.

Ah I am going to miss Carol and Thomas so much. They are so good. From
the time we first met them they have been so willing to learn. I have
seen a huge change in them. They are happier and it just seems
brighter in their home. It is amazing how the gospel can literally
change someone's life. Carol and Thomas came to church again and they
loved it again. They are getting to know people and are really fitting
into the ward. Meltham ward has done such a good job fellow shipping
them as well. Carol and Thomas say that they have been really feeling
good about the things that they are learning and that they believe it
all to be true. They are working towards September 3rd to be baptized
and they feel good about it. Carol is just trying to work off
nicotine. It was cool because she told us that she sold all of her
tobacco to her friend so she doesn't have any temptation, now she is
just on these nicotine inhaler things so we are going to help her get
off those now. They are doing amazing and I know that will get
baptized.

Ken is hilarious. This man will be remembered mostly for his laugh and
his happy personality. He could be talking about something really
morbid and still be able to make someone feel happy. Ken wasn't able
to come to church this Sunday, but we don't know why. But we are
almost done teaching him the lessons, now we are just trying to help
him make the commitment to attend church weekly.

We have a cool story this week. So we were finding one day and we
street contacted a man and his daughter. Well the man was not bothered
at all and the daughter didn't say much. So we left. Well about an
hour later we get a text from Olivia, she explained that we just spoke
to her and her dad and that she looked on the church website, liked what she
saw, spoke to a missionary online and got our phone numbers. She told
us that she wants to learn more and wants to be a member of our
church. So we met up with her and taught her. The lesson went really
well. She said that she felt good. We invited her to church and she
said that she didn't know if she could make it. Well Sunday came up
and she showed up. She loved church. She then texted us later and told
us that she felt a burning in her heart and can't wait to learn more.
She is scheduled to be baptized on the 3rd of September.

Joel is doing amazing. That man was definitely prepared to receive the
gospel. He was able to pass the sacrament this past Sunday and he did
an amazing job. Joel is doing so many good things. He is getting ready
to go home teaching now and go to the temple. Joel is ace.

Well this is really hard. I miss my family and I am excited to be home
but I feel as though I am leaving home again. I am really torn. My
heart will always be a Yorkshire Man. Whilst I have served the Lord in
the blessed land of England I have gained a very strong testimony. I
know that the work which I have been able to participate in is the
work of the Lord and it will continue to move on. I have had the
opportunity to witness miracles and see the Lord's hand in this work. I
will forever remember the people that I met, they are all now apart of
my family. The experiences that we had have impacted my life and has
changed my life. I have come to love my Saviour Jesus Christ I have
been able to experience the power of the Atonement in the lives of
many including myself. The Atonement is real and it works. Jesus
Christ did die for each of us. He knows us individually. I know that I
have a loving Heavenly Father. He knows me and has never given up on
me even though sometimes I have given up on him. He has a plan for us,
which allows us to return to him upon faith, repentance, baptism,
receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. This plan also
allows us to live with our families for eternity. For this I am so
grateful. It brings me so much joy to know that I will be able to
spend eternity with those I love. As I have had this great opportunity
to testify of the Restoration I myself have come to know that the Book
of Mormon is true and that it is the Word of God. Joseph Smith is a
prophet and was called by God to Restore the truths to the earth which
were once lost. I know that this church is true. I came to England
thinking I was going to convert everyone I met. But the greatest
convert was myself. I didn't realize this until really a few weeks
ago. I do know that this church is true and I won't deny it.

I love you all and look forward to seeing you in a few days.

God be with you until we meet again. On our way. #10sof1000s. HE LIVES.

Love, Elder Tyler Rife

  I have re-read that last sentence over and over a few times...

"I love you all and look forward to seeing you in a few days."

Wow!!! 

I get butterflies in my tummy every time I read it! :)

The two years that I wondered if they would ever pass...have!!!

It is still hard for me to really comprehend that my missionary IS REALLY coming home.  

Tomorrow night about this time we will only have an hour until we can put our arms around our boy and feel his love and speak to him in person. It warms my heart.  I'm not sure there are words to express how I really feel.  

I'm so every excited I can hardly stand it and yet too there is a part of me that kinda feels bad that this chapter of his life is over.  It has been a wonderful two years for him and us as a family having him out serving our Heavenly Father in England.  He has learned to LOVE the people and through him we have grown to love these people too.Our family has been VERY blessed over the two years he has been gone and my heart is so full of gratitude for this.

Thank you to all of you who have shared this journey with us. We have appreciated your love and support for our son. May we all continue to serve and share the gospel in whatever ways we can and continue in our journey of returning to live with a loving Father in Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ. 

ONE WEEK is now ONE DAY!!!! :)

We are just a little excited!

The morning we took Tyler to the airport to leave for his mission, I woke up to seeing this on our bathroom mirror.  I convinced him to let me take a picture! :) 

Heavenly Father has certainly been with us through this wonderful journey. 

My last proper week :( Monday, August 8, 2016

Hiya Mum, Dad, and Family,

Everyone sounds like they are doing good. Zone preparation day went
really well. Loads of people came. I have seen Elder Blonquist. I
haven't served around him but we have served in similar areas. Also
Elder and Sister Burnett are the senior couple in the zone. They are
great people. Also I am pretty sure I am good with money. I have
gotten Kylee a little something. I sent a few parcels home, but don't
open the box one until I get home. The other one is just letters.
Anyway things have been going really good here. We have had so many
miracles is week.

Carol and Thomas came to church again this week. They really enjoyed
it as well. Carol told us that she didn't have any doubts of coming
and she felt good the whole time. They have really come far this past
week. We have almost finished teaching them and they are just taking
everything on board. Carol has been working of stopping smoking. She
used to smoke about 15 cigs a day and now she has cut it down to 3.
She says she feels really good about it. She loves reading and
praying. Thomas was struggling with reading and praying and as a
result he was saying he wasn't receiving answers or the good feelings
that his mum has been feeling, but this past week we committed him to
sincerely read and pray. He said he would and he did and he said he is
feeling good about it now. They are excited to be baptized.

Ken was a miracle. We invited him to church and he told us that he is
going to struggle getting up, but he got up and came to church. He
loved it. Turns out he has actually been to church already in Leeds
and he knows one of the members as well. Ken is a character, he laughs
at everything but understands all that we are teaching. It was cool
because he saw Joel get the Priesthood and he asked if he was going to
get it when he was baptized.

We found Heather this week. It was a pretty interesting encounter. We
were walking to an appointment and we just said hello to Heather and
this drunk guy called Simon. Well Heather acted like she new us but
Simon started cursing us and telling us to leave. He then started
asking us why we came. Well during this we bore testimony and taught a
bit about the Book of Mormon. We found out that Heather is sitting on
the fence and wants to find out if God is there. We asked her if we
could come back and teach her, she told us yes. So we went back taught
her the Restoration and she took it really well, we then scheduled her
for baptism for September 3rd.

We met Steven, Louise, and Julie a few days ago. They let us straight
into there home. Well they had a Book of Mormon and Louise said that
she had been reading it, but just as a read. They said that they were
curious to find out more. So we started teaching them. Things started
out pretty rough, they just kept asking us questions and wouldn't
really let us answer. But towards the end we just bore testimony of
the Book of Mormon and told them that this is the only way they will
find out the truth. They said they would read and pray and come to
church next week. So then we scheduled them for the 3rd of September as well.

Yesterday we were knocking and Adam just let us straight into his
house. He is a really open minded guy who is looking for answers. He
believes in God and just wants to have an answer. So we taught him the
Restoration and told him that the way to find out is by reading and
praying about the Book of Mormon. The whole time he was listening and
he said that he is going to try this out. We invited him to be
baptized on the 3rd of September.

Well just an update on Joel. He is still doing great. Joel just got
the Priesthood and is going to start passing the sacrament next
Sunday. Joel is just an amazing guy.

This work is so good. I have learned to rely on Heavenly Father so
much. And I have seen His hand in the work. I love it and I am going
to miss it.

God be with you till we meet again. On our way. #10sof100s. HE LIVES

Love, Elder Tyler Rife

Keeping it safe homies - Monday, August 1, 2016

Hiya Mum, Dad, and Family,

It seems like you guys had a lot of fun with the whole family at the
ranch. It was probably great just chilling out. We will have to do it
again when I get home. Mum and Dad just so you know I am so thankful
for what you did for me and the things that you have taught me. So I
think it is good what you are doing. Anyway I have to apologise before
hand for the short email because we are having a zone p-day so we have
to prepare for it.

This week we have been having a lot of success. Carol and Thomas are
doing really well, they called us one day and asked us to come by and
answer some questions. We went by and Carol explained that she has
been feeling really good about the things we have been teaching.. She
feels good when she prays and when she reads. We explained to her hat
it was the Holy Ghost and that it was testifying to her of the
truthfulness of the message we are sharing. We rescheduled her for September 4th.

Joel is doing great as well. Whenever we go by he is just so excited
about the gospel and about getting involved in the church. He is
getting the priesthood next week. We are so excited for him.

We finally contacted Karleen and so we are going to teach her tonight.
We have been trying to contact her for the past two weeks and we
finally got in contact. Definitely a miracle.

We also found some cool kids. We were knocking and these teenagers just
walked up to us and started chatting to us like they knew us. We got
talking about the gospel and taught them a bit about the Book of
Mormon. We gave them a chapel tour and now they are wanting to find
out more about the Book of Mormon and find out if it is true.

Anyway loads of things are happening. We are just trying to re build
our area, we have been dropped by quite a few of our investigators. So
we are just hitting the streets again. We are going to find loads of
new people. I know because Heavenly Father will help us. All things
are possible through him.

I love you all and hope everything goes well.

God be with you till we meet again. On our way. #10sof1000s. HE LIVES.

Love, Elder Tyler Rife