November 14,2012

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Elder Lehikainen with one of his favorite teachers, Hermano Purnell.

Elder Lehikainen is on the bottom getting quite the workout !

Outside the MTC in Nov. Brrrrr...Mexico will be warmer.

   Hola mi familia!! Como estas? That is so exciting for Aaron and Brandi. I actually just got a letter from Brandi and the Boys and Emma girl yesterday it brightened my day to hear from them. Make sure to give them hugs from me and give baby Mary Donna a hug and a kiss for me. My companion, Elder Talmage, is great! He is the great nephew of The Elder Talmage. He has such a powerful testimony and I am very grateful to be his companion.
    This week I have been studying alot about baptism and the doctrine behind it. The first couple of weeks I was really gun ho about baptism almost like Elder Calhoun from the best two years and I kinda strayed away from that I dont know why lol. So this week I have been trying to get back into that and relay the importance behind why we are baptized beyond the fact that we are made clean from all of our past sins. Soo Monday I went back into Mosiah and ended up in Mosiah 18 ( the whole chapter is awesome and can you read it this week please and thank you) but in verse 13 it says " I baptize thee, Having authority from the almighty god, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body" this really touched me this is one of the reasons I am serving a mission because I promised I would serve my god when I was baptized by you dad when I was 8 years old. this isnt very applicable for an investigator (but it could be) but for me it is very applicable and I think it is for all of you as well. My whole outlook has really changed here at the MTC in the past 7 weeks and am so very grateful it has. This past Monday we were having one of our night lessons and we were teaching one of our teachers Hermano Galvez ( he is such a great man and I am lucky that he is my teacher, I will have to tell you about him some other day) anyways we were teaching one of his investigators he had on his mission named Christian and the lesson went well but not good enough and I was frustrated that one Elder  who is happy with just doing ok and being ok when I don't want to be just ok or average the lord doesn't need average missionaries he needs the very best and he deserves the very best. The sports mentality dad instilled in my brain as a young man has really helped because it is not ok to be mediocre. I'm a passionate person about whatever it is I am doing. I put my all into it or I don't do it and that is who I am.
  Like I said, last week I have been continually been studying the atonement and this week I went to Mathew, Mark, Luke, and john I don't know the specific verses or chapters except in Matthew 22 I love reading about the savior and learning more and more about him and what he did for all of us. When I am down lately I think about Christ and I know he is there with me every step of the way and what joy that brings me. I know that this church is true without a shadow of a doubt there are many things we can say about why this church is so amazing but personally I have learned that it is because Jesus Christ is the head and it is his church and that is all I need to know. I know that Joseph Smith had a genuine question for his father in heaven and that question was which church is true. I know that heavenly father and the son  came and appeared to Joseph Smith in the sacred grove. En la palabras de Jose Smith Vi una columna de luz mas brillante que el sol direcrament ariba de mi cabesa vi en el airre ariba de mi a dos personajes cuyo fulgo Y gloria no admiten discription uno de ellos mi hablo llamando me por mi nombre Y dijo senalondo a otro este es mi hijo amado escuchalo!! I know that brother Joseph is a prophet of god. I can testify that the Book of Mormon is true and I can testify that our Heavenly Father answers prayers. I know that Jesus Christ our savior our redeemer and our older brother took upon the sins of the world for you and I so that we can return to our loving heavenly father one day. I know that he knows me personally and knows the pain and the sorrow that I have gone through and continue to go through. I love my savior so very much.  I love you all so very much and I keep you in my prayers every night and throughout the day. Thank you for all the love you send my way through your prayers. God be with you until we meet again.

- Love Elder Lehikainen

November 7, 2012

   Hola mi familia!! como estan? How is everyone doing? you all must be busy I didnt have an email from anyone but alyssa today. thanks alyssa for writing me I love you. How was fast sunday? Did anyone besides Dad dan un testimonio? I was able to bare my testimony in spanish which was pretty special to me. I have been studying alot about the atonement I try to move on and study other things during my personal study but I always end up returning to the atonement. I guess I need to better understand it. I love learning more and more about the savior and what he has done for me. At times I have felt pretty down and alone but each morning I study the scriptures and I can feel the spirit and I know that my father in heaven loves me and I know that my savior Jesus Christ loves me. I have been thinking and talking alot with Brother Monson about the savior being more then our savior we should strive to become his friend. I have been thinking alot about that and how Christ is our older brother and it had me thinking that he is our biggest fan so to speak he is up in the heavens rooting us on every step of the way. This is one of the reasons baring my testimony this week was so very special. I can honestly say that I can testify that Jesus is The Christ and that he died for me and bleed from every pore of his body for me and for my sins. He knows what I go through and what all of you go through. Christ knows how it feels to be all alone he went through that in the garden of Gethsemane (sorry if I spelled that wrong) he did that so we don't have to be alone ever when we are going through a trial. He will always be there for us. sorry I am blabbering on but I am so passionate about the savior now and I didn't know that I was capable of it 7 weeks ago. The greatest blessing we of the MTC and going on a foreign speaking mission is that I have 9 weeks to become more converted myself and through that I can look my investigators in the eye with my baby spanish that I know and testify to them that whatever they are going through there is a way out of it and there is a way to happiness and I know for myself that the way is and can only be through Jesus Christ. ( I think that is in 2 Nephi 31)

  All in all I am doing great and I am absolutely loving the mission so far and I can not wait to get out into the field and invite others to come unto Christ. This is the work the lord wants me to do and I am so grateful for parents that raised me the right way.  Can you all read Mosiah 3 sometime this week I have come to love this chapter and how it talks about salvation comes through Christ. Who would have thought that I would come to love the scriptures the way that I have. In my Spanish scriptures I will have to send you a picture next week because I am getting them engraved right now but I have a whole system worked out and tabs everywhere. I have come to realize that there is a scripture for just about everything lol I have to ask you all again this week where are you in your Book of Mormon. I am in Mosiah 18 this morning and I just finished reading about Abinadi we all should dare to be as bold as he was. I love you all very much and would love to hear from you. God be with you till we meet again.

Love Elder Lehikainen
 

Oct. 31, 2012

  Hola mi familia, como estan? I loved getting the package you sent, mom, and I haven’t gotten Alyssa’s yet.  Yeah, I should, my estimated departure for Veracruz is November 26 but we will see when I get my visa. All of the mexican elders have to go meet with a chancelor in person so I might be headed to salt lake, vegas, or idaho here in the next couple of weeks.  This past week has been pretty crazy; Elder Dow left to Alabama until his visa comes for Peru and I am back in a trio with Elder Hill again....and Elder Talmage they are both going to Mexico City. Elder Talmage is very cool and is a baseball player as well so that is always a plus. My gospel Spanish is becoming pretty good and I can teach the first two lessons pretty well now which is kinda shocking. I know that it is the Lord’s hand because Spanish is pretty tough for me. But this past week we took a Spanish evaluation test and I scored the highest in the class which was very surprising.
  This week spiritually I have found myself coming closer and closer to my savior Jesus Christ. In my personal study I have been focusing on the atonement and how important it is for us as members of the church, even more so missionaries to testify of Christ and make known to the public our friends, even our family that is not active how very important Jesus Christ is in our lives. Even more important is how he paid the price for us, the ultimate price and then some. With a progressing investigator named Jorge this week I tried to convey the importance of that. We shared Alma 34: 8-10 and then went on to share in Luke 22. The spirit was very strong and even though it is just a teacher being a person from their mission I know without a shadow of a doubt that the

Holy Ghost testified to Hermano Beeston that Jesus is the Christ and he is our savior. That has to be the best feeling in the world for me the only way I can explain it is that it is like a rush of adrenaline, and this may be apostate to say but it is addicting and I love it. Last night we had Elder Clark of the seventy speak and the Tuesday devotional and he spoke on how we as missionaries can invite others to come unto Christ when we are in the field. He started off challenging us everyday to at the end of the day look in the mirror and ask ourselves how many souls have we helped come to know their savior today. He then went on to give 5 steps on how to teach them to do so. He started off by saying teach them the doctrine. Second, he said the center of our teaching must be the atonement of Jesus Christ. This touched me and I challenged myself last night that with every investigator I am going to testify of Christ and share my testimony of the atonement with them. Third, he said do not challenge them to do something that you would not do yourself. Fourth, help them learn how to repent. Fifth, he said make sure that they have the opportunity to gain a love for the Book of Mormon and always, always ask them how their daily reading is going. Reading the book of Mormon should not be a check, he went on to say it should be a heart changing experience.
  I want to end by testifying that I know that this is the church of god on the earth today and it was restored through Joseph Smith. I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Book of Mormon is the word of god in these latter days and it testifies of Christ our savior. I know that I am a child of God and because of this he has a love for me that I cannot comprehend. I know that Jesus Christ bled from each and every pore in his body for me and for you. I love you all so very much and I say these things in his holy name, the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love, Your son and Brother
-Elder Lehikainen

October 24, 2012

  Hola mi Familia como Estan?  This past week we have had some really great lessons. Of our four "investigators" two of them are being baptized come the first of the month. The teachers play the roles of the investigators which is pretty cool. They play people that they taught on there missions and they are still in contact with today. But as we teach and pray for these investigators the people that the teachers are playing are being blessed which took me awhile to realize. It is amazing how the spirit works and how much he testifies of Christ and the love of our heavenly father in our lives. For the past couple of days I have been finding myself trying to keep my heart softened I don’t know if I told you but our district combined and so we have like 8 teachers and each one is different.  This last week I was sick with that throat thing I always get. Anway, I usually stray away from asking from help from others and asking for a blessing but this past Sunday I felt like I needed one so I asked Elder Dow and Brother Monson if they could. I think asking for and receiving a blessing for being sick is  just what I needed. Brother Monson gives awesome counsel as well and it was my interview with him prior to the blessing that made me want to receive one. In our interview first he promised me if I had the faith that I would feel better and that is hard for me sometimes.  I am trying to work on that because I want to have that strong faith but it cant just appear I feel that comes over time and continually working on becoming a more converted servant of the lord .Second he explained that (this is his own thought) sometimes when we are sick physically it opens up space in our soul to become weak and that is the time that the adversary can make us feel bad and bring us down. But I guess this time the faith was there because in 30 or so minutes after I felt peace and so much better.

   Last Night Elder Echo Hawk and is wife came and spoke for our devotional and they shared there stories with us. Elder Echo Hawk is a convert to the church which was a supprise to me and he baptized his wife at the age of 19. He has so much love for the elders that baptized him and he could barely speak there names. What really changed his life was football he sat the bench until his senior year. Going into his senior year he wasnt very active in the church. His priest adviser knowing how much he loved sports went up to him one sunday and told him he wanted to train him. So he went to work and won the starting QB spot. Before the season started he got hit in the eye with a football and was told that he would possibly lose the sight of his right eye I believe. So he missed the first half of football. During that time he made a promise with his father in heaven and said lord if I am able to have my eyesight back I will read ten pages out of the book of mormon everyday until I finish. He received is eyesight back won over the QB position and recieved a scholarship to play at BYU where he played free safey all four years. That is a cool story he went on to say but the best story in there is the story of his conversion things do happen for a reason and through losing his eyesight he was brought to his father in heaven. Elder Echo Hawk went on to read ten pages a day or more all four years of college.

  This really touched me it reminded me of when I broke my leg and how you mom challenged me to turn to the lord. I didn’t do all that I should have then but I know that that happened to me for a reason. I shared some of that with the branch President last night in our post devotional conference and I said at first I was pretty angry with the lord for letting that happen to me and when I look back now that is the best thing in the world that could have happened to me.

  The scripture for this week is going to be 2 Nephi 2 I have been studying this a lot this week and it talks about the plan of salvation. I hope you can enjoy it as I have.

I know this church is true, there is not a doubt in my mind. I know and I can testify that Jesus is The Christ he is our savior and redeemer. I can testify to you that the book of mormon is true it is the word of god and I can testify to you my family that families are forever and our family will be and I say these thing in the name of our lord and savior jesus christ amen.

October 17, 2012

Hola mi padres y madres,

     I have only been here for 3 weeks but it seems like I have been here for a couple months .Dad no my companion Elder Dow is going to Trujio, Peru and the other elders in my district are either going to Mexico City north west or Veracruz. We just combined with our sister district last night and no more Elder Hill. Half of our district left to the Peru MTC and that is why we combined. My esponal is muy mal at the moment lol but my lessons are getting there. You all know how much I hate to be bad at something so it has been very humbling but I have come to know that I must trust in the lord. As I have been struggling to learn the language I have found peace once I realized why I am trying to learn spanish. It’s not for me but for those people of VeraCruz that the Lord has prepared to hear his message. Once I finally understood this my lessons started to come right along. I finally memorized the first vision in spanish and as a companionship we were able to quote it to our "investigator" which was very nice. There is something about quoting and looking at the person in the eyes that enables the spirit to be there just that much more. In my personal study this morning I was in D&C 34 and I replaced my name in for Brother Pratt’s and It was very  inspiring. Emily and all of the family should look it up when you have the time. I have been studying alot about God’ s love for us as well and how we become refined through the holy ghost. I shared some stuff I had been studying about "baptism by fire" and the holy ghost with our district last night after our devotional and I though I would share it with you. I was reading in 3 Nephi 24 and I think verses 5 to 7 and it kinda hit me how through the holy ghost or the refiners fire and trials in our lives we are molded and cleansed to become the men or women that our Heavenly Father and our savior Jesus Christ desire us to be. Through time and refinement we all become closer to our heavenly father and become more Christlike by developing his attributes. Also this morning I ended up in 1Nephi 11:22-23 and it says  that the love of god or word of god is the most desirable thing to feel and most joyous to have in ones life. I know that this is one of the many reasons that I am serving a mission for my heavenly father so that I can be the tool in his hands so that some of his children may have is teachings in there life and feel of his love.I Love you all so very much and I am very excited for Emily and to see her here in the MTC. I know that this is the work that I am supposed to be doing and I KNOW that we are all children of our heavenly father and he loves us so very much. Yo se que atreves de jesucristo nosotros puedemos volver con dios por eteridad. Yo se que el libro de mormon es verderadero Y palabra de dios. Yo se que Dios ama todos personas en la tierra. Yo se que Jesucristo es el hijo de dios Y es nuestro salvador. Yo se que atreves de jesucristo nosotros puedemos estar limpio. Amen That is some of my testimony in spanish I dont know if I spelled some stuff right but I hope you can get some of it.

   I want you all to know that I can feel the prayers you say for me and that I know we can be together forever and I am so grateful for that gift and blessing our heavenly father has given us. I love your letters and I cant wait to get to Mexico and start teaching. God be with you until we meet again love your son, brother and friend.

Scriptures of the Week

10/3/12     Helaman 12:23 - 24

10/10/12   John 4:7 - 11 & 3 Nephi Chapter 12

10/17/12   D & C  34

10/24/12   2 Nephi Chapter 2

10/31/12    1 Nephi Chapter 1

11/7/12      Mosiah Chapter 3  & Jacob 5:72

11/14/12    Mosiah  Chapter 18

11/21/12    Alma Chapter 22, Alma Chapter 24,  D&C 50

11/28/12    D & C  11

12/5/12     Alma Chapter 24,  2Nephi chapter 31 

12/12/12   Alma Chapter 40

 12/19/12  Alma Chapter 48

12/24/12    Alma Chapters 54 - 56

12/31/12    Mosiah Chapter 4

1/7/13        Alma Chapter 5

1/13/13      Mormon Chapter 9

1/21/13      Helaman Chapter 11

1/28/13      D&C Section 50 (verse 24) & 3Nephi Ch. 9/13

2/4/13        3Nephi Chapter 14

2/11/13      3Nehi Chapter 18       

 

Mission Address

Elder Lehikainen was called to serve in the MEXICO VERACRUZ MISSION
Beginning Sept 26, 2012 and Ending  Sept 26, 2014


Mission address:


Letters:

Elder Ryan Thomas Lehikainen
Mexico Veracruz Mission
Apartado Postal 103
91700 Veracruz, Veracruz
Mexico


Packages:


Elder Ryan Thomas Lehikainen
Mexico Veracruz Mission
Altamirano 27 entre 1 de Mayo y Carranza
Col. Flores Magon

91700 Veracruz, Veracruz
Mexico

October 10, 2012

  Hola mi familia!! P-day numero 2 lol Emily yes I have my own personal shower. Dad we still practice HSI or SYL. My day consists of arise and prepare at 6:30 to 7 then personal study from 7 to 8 and then breakfast. Usually after breakfast we have language study with one of our teachers then we have additional language study from 10 to 11. then we teach one of our "investigators" then lunch. After lunch we have an hour of gym. We get ready for the day again. Then we have more companion or personal study. Then some more language study. Then dinner. After dinner from 6:30 to 9:30 we have class and teach our other investigator.

So How about general conference I never thought that I would enjoy conference so much and now I cant wait to hear from the leaders of our church again in 6 months. My favorite talk had to be Elder Holland. Last night we had our regular tuesday devotional and Elder Bednar came and taught us how we should study the conference talks after they had been printed in the ensign or online. He taught us to do these three steps as we look and the talks first: what Doctrine is in the talk Second: what is the speaker Inviting us to do thirdly: what Blessing are we going to recieve if we do live the doctrine they are teaching us and complete the invitation that they give us. He went over some 3 of the conference talks with us and we did this for all of them. It was surreal that I was being taught directly by an apostle of the lord.

 My Spanish is finally coming along pretty well as I started to focus on just learning the gospel terms and lessons that I needed know to become a tool in the lords hand my spanish started to come. Even though we are teaching practice investigators the spirit is still there with us testifying to me as well as my companions that our Heavenly father does love each and everyone of us and that Jesus is The Christ. As I continue to study and search the scriptures and literature that the Brethren have put out for us my testimony grows and I become more and more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all so very much! Scripture of the Week John 4: 7-11

Sweet MTC memories

First Week at the MTC  October 3, 2012

Mom, Dad and family what an great first week here at the MTC it has been. I had no idea how much we study until I got here. We are in class pretty much todos los dias except for when we have an hour of gym or are at lunch dinner or breakfast. My district is pretty cool we all get along pretty well. Spanish is pretty tough right now for me especially because we already have been teaching practice lessons in Spanish ahh. Although spanish has been super tough we have been able to get our message and goal to our "investigator" Monday we taught of gods love for us and challenged him to read 3 Nephi 11 and I would invite you all to read as well it is an awesome testimony builder of Christ's love for each one of us. We have gym everyday like I said and we have been playing soccer lol I want to be a beast when I get to Mexico and we have been doing pull ups and push ups and abs everyday trying not to gain that MTC weight. I saw tyler and gave him a big hug on Saturday and have been seeing him like everyday since then. Thank you for your letters and the cupcakes loved them. I will try and send some pictures. I love you all so very much.  I know that my Heavenly father loves me and I know that families are forever I am so grateful for this. Love, Elder Lehikainen

First Companion

Elder Lehikainen  (left) and his first companion, Elder Dow. They were companions for almost five weeks. They were a great companionship!

September 26, 2012

Called To Serve in Veracruz Mexico