Annapolis, MD - December 28, 2015

Merry Christmas Everybody!! Hope you all had an awesome Christmas. I love this time of year. It's been a little bit harder to talk and teach people lately because they have been busy with the holidays. It was super weird riding my bike to dinner appointments in 70 degrees with a lot of humidity. I'm not going to lie, I missed the snow a little bit.

We had an awesome miracle. This young family we lost contact with we found on the street on Tuesday. They wanted to meet with us that day and they want to meet with us again. Prayer works. This week has been good but felt really off, because we have done a lot less proselyting. Christmas Eve, Christmas and Wednesday for a mission Christmas party we just hung out, playing monopoly and basketball. The Christmas party was great because I got to see my trainer and a lot of awesome missionaries again that I haven't seen in a while like Elders Benson and Baucam. Me and my companion Elder Meyer had a blast during Christmas and we went downtown and to the mall.  

We have been getting really close to this less active family where the kids aren't baptized, because they want the kids to decide for themselves. Two of them want to start taking the lessons, and we're working with the others! We got stuffed for Christmas and all this week and Elder Meyer's mom and my mom together gave me so much candy! I don't know if it's just out here, but everyone here has those crazy hover board things where they lean and listen to music.

It was so awesome Skyping you it was definitely the highlight of my week! Man! I miss playing games with you all for Christmas! That was the most relaxing/fun thing ever. Did you eat a ton too? We had a huge feast with some senior missionaries on Sunday and then we went to visit granny and she made us eat a bunch of pie, sweet potatoes, potato salad and fried chicken. I ate so much. I think I gained some weight this week even though we rode bikes a ton.

I don't want to leave Annapolis I'm not going to lie.

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - December 21, 2015

My new companion is the best he's so funny and honestly pretty humble, we really get along well. He's from Arizona. We are making tons of taco meat.

I've been listening to a bunch of Christmas music. I like Michael Buble a lot.

It was really cold here on bikes in the wind, but it's warming up and is supposed to be about 67 degrees for Christmas. I don't think it will snow for two months.

Our newest convert just got the priesthood.

Some cool things that happened are I heard "How Great Thou Art" in Burger King and I gave myself my first haircut by myself. It was super bad and I had to fix it later on in the day. I cut it way too short and forgot to blend it. And older man who was chilling on his porch was listening to "Easy" by the Commodores and I was like, "hey,  I know that song,"  then we talked to him and got a return appointment.

We are Skyping at 2 so that is 12 o'clock for you guys.

I have really tried to be more kind to everyone and I've learned people appreciate it and return the favor.

Love you! Merry Christmas!

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - December 14, 2015

Hey I'm really low on time, it's a long story. I'll send you an awesome email next week. I had some trouble sending pictures, but the card reader works. Thanks so much for the package. You are really the best. Love you, Mom.


Hey so Annapolis is pretty great! We're doing a ton of biking and contacting and tearing it up out here! I'll definitely be safe. I'm like a pro bike rider now, haha. I know right. I'm staying in Annapolis. My companion is getting transferred and I'm going to miss him a ton. My new companion is going to be Elder Meyer. This next transfer is going to be crazy because the district is splitting.


We had a special mission conference where Elder Teh of the Seventy spoke to us. It was legit and so powerful, plus I got to see all the missionaries I haven't seen in a crazy long time. Ya, I talked to AJ and a bunch of the elders at the conference. They are awesome. The gangs are tight with the missionaries and look out for them. It was good.


So the other elders in our area had a baptism, and so they had to fill up the font with garbage cans like we did, but they left the hose unattended and flooded a hallway of the church.


It does not feel like Christmas because it is 70 degrees here! People here love fried chicken, love their flag, love their tims (Timbaland boots) and they always say 'ax' instead of 'ask'.


Good luck on your tests! I can't wait to Skype you, it's going to be good. Thanks. I will preach like cray cray, haha. I did go to a Christmas party one of my favorite ward members with tons of their friends. It was great.


Love you guys a ton. Merry Christmas!


Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - December 7, 2015

I feel pretty privileged with my area honestly. Annapolis is an expensive place to live I hear from some people. Hey we have been playing racquetball with this non member for this transfer and I'm getting the hang of it now. We convinced him to come to church this week and he did! We have a member of the seventy visiting us and we have a tri zone conference I'm super excited. I don't think I'll leave this area yet either. I'm guessing one more transfer. We went shopping today mostly to look at stuff and it's hard not to buy things. We helped this member out who has been stuck in a remodeled house for 5 years because the contractors left during the economy crash in 2009 and we've been helping him a bunch and he's so grateful I can tell. It doesn't feel like December here yet because it hasn't snowed at all and won't for months they say. You wouldn't believe how much fried chicken we and everyone eat here haha. Have you checked out the new Christmas website. I really like christmas.mormon.org and mormon.org right now. The church is doing a lot to help us get referrals. We got a really solid referral a few days ago.

I'm so excited for Christmas. I don't know how much proselytizing we do over 23-25 in this mission. Yes they put up lights but there's tons more apartments and they don't. I can't believe how lucky I've been riding bikes so much and having no trouble. Hope I can send some pictures soon. This week was really good for our new convert with new member lessons and an awesome Christmas party. He is getting the priesthood! I can't wait to show you a picture of him. He was Santa Claus for the party and he was pro. We also made some awesome less active friends and they've come back to reactivity and their kids are going to get baptized because they are older than 8 and haven't been. We are teaching some awesome people they are just hard to get a hold of. We have done a lot of service and one day I was so sore. We worked out at the gym remembered we had service lifting 4 literal tons of stone tile, and then rode our bikes really far. I realized I need to start recording how far we ride on the long days. I never realized how much I love reading the scriptures and I know I'm not going to stop studying after my mission. What have all of you been reading. Will you get all the girls and everyone to send me their favorite scripture they read? I like Alma 14 9-11 about why bad things happen to good people. I forgot about that story. I also love Jesus the Christ pg 20 second paragraph and 1 Corinthians 15:22 about why we have death.

I hurt my leg last week and it killed for a while. This week's been cool. We have been teaching our recent convert lessons and planned to go to the temple with him. The DC temple does a festival of lights like temple square kind of. It's such a beautiful temple. This week has been a good week in that we found some awesome new people, had a lot of success with less actives coming to reactivity, but we're having a hard time holding onto investigators. One thing we've been doing a lot of is having family home evenings with young member or less active families and playing Don't Eat Pete and stuff haha.

Love you

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - November 30, 2015

Thanksgiving was so awesome. We ate with a member family and had good old fashioned turkey with a super long table. I didn't know them too well because they live far away on bikes, but we got pretty close. And we had really good conversation and I had a lot of fun.

One of our investigators was baptized and it was awesome. So we got to the church four hours early to fill up the font, and while it was filling we set up ate and studied. Then a member gave a musical number and needed me to play the piano for her and it was like six pages! But I did surprisingly pretty good for only running through it three times. It was a miracle. Then the font wasn't filling up fast enough and so we had to use pots pans and (clean) garbage cans to fill up water and we barely made it in time. He was ecstatic and so happy. He's realized family and God are important. I took pictures, I have quite a few now I need to send.

I've really gotten into reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible and I started a list with thoughts on favorite scriptures and then doctrinally important scriptures for just the LDS church. I study tons of stuff, but I learned I'm kind of obsessed with the Apostasy and the need for the Restoration. I have a lot of scriptures to support it. I've actually been reading a ton of scriptures when I can. I never really studied like I do now.

I haven't been hit by a car yet. Elder Larsen did and it messed up his bike. He's a good missionary and we get along. I'm excited for all the future people we just found and  to be able to teach them.

Oh I forgot to tell you about our new district leader. He's from Atlanta, Georgia. I went on exchanges with him. I didn't know we were exchanging so I planned to bike really far that day and he was not down.

We're teaching this guy who is a keyboard player for like a jazz band. He's crazy nice and boy does he have swag.

I love you,

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - November 23, 2015

I think the chord or reader are broken for the camera or I would have sent pictures today. If you could send new ones that would be cool. I've tried a lot I'm sorry.

One of our investigators is getting baptized this Saturday. I'm super excited. 

Thanksgiving is going to be fun. We get to play football with the ward. We are eating with a family I don't know too well. but they are having turkey they said. Sorry, I don't have tons of time to write today.

So real quick, we had a Baptist funeral in our church basically because of the members family being Baptist. The choir was exciting and the preacher's were loud and got really into it. There was a ton of participation too. Then we had a ton of fried chicken for the dinner.

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - November 16, 2015

I'm sorry I had to buy another rear light and my bike light fell off so now I only have a cheap combo one. We  biked so much on this last week we've been cranking it and I more or less had the flu and kept riding a bunch.

I think we'll have a good Thanksgiving dinner. The members are so kind to feed us dinners. We've gotten fed a ton by members.

This week has been awesome. So we taught the word of wisdom to one of our investigators who has drank coffee for his whole life, like six cups a day. He sincerely believes Joseph Smith is a prophet and that there must be a reason for life. He didn't even question it. He drinks hot water or juice in a dark cup so it looks like coffee. On top of that the Book of Mormon helps him so much.

Another of our investigators has been coming to just sacrament meeting a lot but has rescheduled for the past two weeks to meet with us. She kind of seems to believe all religion, but I've been following up on her Book of Mormon reading and she's been reading a lot.

I know Maryland's the place for me too. I honestly love it here. We've done tons of service this week; from helping these random neighborls move to digging up a member's weeds. I think they have the coolest state flag  too. I'm going to miss Thanksgiving and Christmas at home.

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - November 9, 2015

Oh Mom how I love you and miss you're cooking! I made some taco meat and realized we had no more tortillas so I made up taco spaghetti. It’s really good, try it. Tell Grandma Ressler happy birthday! I love her a lot. There is an Amish market down here with super good gummy bears and it sounds a lot like Roots. Tell Grandma and Grandpa Ressler I went to the temple visitor center and looked for them. The temple is so tall. It’s the tallest temple.

Thanks for the quote. Hey could you send some Family Home Evening stuff? I can’t remember if you did and did you send an allen wrench?

It's been cold here today and yesterday, but last Friday was 77 degrees while it was snowing in Utah. I wish I could listen to Christmas music, but I can't listen to it because were on bikes. I'm really excited for Christmas but I'm really going to miss that good Ressler Christmas and Lord of the Rings.

Sadie will do awesome at basketball try-outs. Halloween was awesome and then we got an extra hour of sleep. I loved it, I'm not going to lie. I went on an exchange with one of my favorite elders and it was a blast. We got soaking wet and he has been in a car forever because he’s a zone leader. We have a new zone leader in Annapolis named Elder Singleton who replaced Elder Vandeur veur who is one of my closest elders and I miss him a lot. Elder Singleton is really awesome. He is really humble and is seriously one of the most dedicated missionaries. My trainer and I are pretty tight. We've gotten a lot closer since I started my mission. Elder Larsen is just a really hard worker.

One of the member families was playing Monopoly when we stopped by and it made me think of that last little bit before I left. I'm pretty sure we'll all end up being millionaire business people because of playing Monopoly. No way, Dad stopped eating ice cream?! What did he eat?! Haha jk.

We saw the sites last week and I took a few pictures. Oh man, tell Mom I was planning on sending pictures but I forgot to bring the card reader! Ask Brendon to tell me how to use it. It was weird last time. What port do I put it in? Mostly, we play basketball, it’s a blast. Our area is actually a pretty nice area. Most of the people are super tight and respectful to us.

Oh funny story. One night I was so tired I fell asleep giving the prayer out loud with Elder Larsen and he said he waited for like 20 seconds thinking I was pondering what to say.

Love,

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - November 2, 2015

One of my favorite elders a zone leader is getting transferred and my district leader who I was also really close with. I'm really glad to stay in Annapolis and still have Elder Larsen. I have a ton of work still. Hey I started listening to my music during emails like Studio Ghibli. Tell Brendon brown hymnbook is money. I love Peruvian chicken there are 2 or 3 restaurants here Dad. We have to go there. Maryland will be much easier to visit again. They have a really good Amish market here near Annapolis. Grandma Ressler would love it.

Oh we had a cool experience. A guy we had a return appointment whose wife just died said he didn't have the time but then I remembered how much he loved talking about his tractors so I asked him about them. He took us around back and showed us the tractors, then he let us in and we had a really spiritual lesson with him. Then sad story, an investigator has terminal cancer and so we don't know how much he'll be able to meet with us. I want you to know I'm doing my best out here.

We went to the temple visitor center on Sunday with an investigator. And we have another investigator who tried to meet four times with us this week but we could only have three visits. He rescheduled a serious rotator cuff surgery because he didn't want it to interfere with his baptism. It's not as crazy as a buddy of mine in my zone. His investigator punched his best friend in the face because he was making fun of the church.

I don't want it to snow. Oh I'm staying in Annapolis on bikes this transfer. For Halloween we all played dodge ball at the church as a zone it was a blast. I have so much candy it's not even funny.

I know this mission is already changing me. I'm learning to be kinder to everyone even in my thoughts. Hey, I gave myself my first hair cut, its super gnarly.

With love,

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - October 26, 2015

We had seven investigators come to church on Sunday. It was the Primary program. I know they felt the spirit and some got really teary eyed with all the children and said they loved the music. One said it was an uplifting experience. I don't know how interested they are in  getting baptized but said they wanted to come to church next week as well.

My mission president is awesome he says he sees something special in me, but it sounds just like the song "I'm going to be the next AP" which pretty much makes fun of an overconfident new missionary :). Ask Brendon if he's heard that song.

Oh I'm eating great but we just bought too much in advance so we can't eat out. I eat pasta, corn dogs, party pizzas, tons of candy, sandwiches, taco meat, eggs, ramen and tons of chili on Saturday at the ward chili cook-off.

I've taken a lot of pictures but forgot my camera I'll send them next week. Hey don't worry about Halloween candy my trainer's mom sent decorations and six bags of candy. Yes, we get to Skype at Christmas. Music selection on the mission is a personal choice, but should be gospel related. I haven't been able to listen to very much of the music I brought because we're on bikes.

I saw a lot of miracles this week.

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - October 19, 2015

It's been an awesome week. Going on this mission is one of the best decisions I've made. I love getting to know so many people. I fall asleep so fast every night I'm usually exhausted but it's getting better. I've been reading Jesus the Christ and Our Search for Happiness and they've answered a lot of questions that our investigators have.

A past BYU football player that graduated in 1996 drove up to me and talked to me while my companion was on the phone. He says he has a picture on the wall and was super interested I was going to BYU. He was visiting the neighborhood he grew up in.

It was good yesterday; I was so cold I could see my breath, the humidity makes a big difference. When the sun was out it felt really hot, but then the cloud covered it and I was freezing like even with my coat.

We are really low on money for food. We went to two Peruvian chicken places and they are seriously amazing. I eat a lot of pasta, eggs, milk and no, we need to get hamburger for taco salads, but I will for sure.

I've been getting a lot more comfortable here and I've really enjoyed studying and looked forward to it; I've learned a lot. Are you guys ponderizing a scripture each week like from conference? Hey let me know which ones you do and you should share good scriptures with me every week. The ward here is so awesome were having like a chili cook off this Saturday and were hoping some investigators will end up coming. A lot of people are interested in hearing what we say but not promising to come to church or read because of like football and stuff like that that really doesn't matter in the end. But my investigators are doing well. I'm pretty sure at least two will get baptized but I mean, I always pray and remember everyone.

Hey I love you all,

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - October 5, 2015

I love being a missionary! It's going by way fast. I'm already a third done with this transfer it's weird. We talk to so many people and I'm happy because we have taught way more lessons and have people progressing. I had some people try to bible bash us in a way and one yelled at us in Hebrew. But their arguments have strengthened my testimony even more.

General Conference was my favorite. I got so much out of it. I watched it at members’ houses. I was sad it was over. There are just a lot of awesome people out here and some strong members.

I've been feeling better but it's been hard biking so much in the rain and having no down time.

My companion was trained in this area. The downtown is really old English and that’s in my area. They split the Annapolis area when I got here and sadly most of the members are on the other side, but we get the city part.

I didn't realize Annapolis was the capital until a few days ago. Thanks for the information about Annapolis history. I’ve seen all of those places. That’s the college really? It's a super old college and very traditional. It's a really intellectual school we delivered a media referral near there and it's like all brick.

I haven't had seafood yet but I saw the Chesapeake Bay when a member took us to a restaurant in between conference sessions. We got fed so much. I look forward to the taco seasoning. I hear hamburger is expensive here, but I need taco meat.

That's awesome about President Jones having a friend here. I would love to meet them.

It's an amazing area. You know the Navy vs Air Force game was on Saturday during conference. The coach from “Meet the Mormons” in my wards stake and came to the priesthood session after the game. It was pretty cool.

I don't have too much time to play piano, but hardly anyone can play so for church and zone meetings I've sight read the hymns.

Elder Ressler

Annapolis, MD - September 28, 2015

My area is Annapolis Maryland, and I like it a lot. It's really nice and downtown Annapolis is beautiful, you should look at pictures. My cold has been hard trying to work out and ride bikes. My trainer is awesome. He's Elder Larsen from Logan, Utah. We get along pretty well. He's a really good guy. The apartment is pretty nice, it was just a little dusty at first. I love the people we come in contact with

My area has great people and we’re biking. Only 25 percent of my mission is on bikes or walking, and I'm biking. We ride like 10 to 12 miles a day so far and there are some big hills. We get to talk to a lot of people on bikes My bike is pretty nice. So the first day we gave our bikes to some elders who were supposed to take it over to the apartment, but they lost it... I had to borrow a terrible bike for the first two days and it was hard to pedal and change gears. I've have mine now though and its good. So since the MTC I've lost like 9 pounds because of biking so much.

The members are super cool. The ward here is by the Naval Academy and so all the Mormon academy students go here, it's awesome. I've seen the gospel start to change lives already we have two progressing investigators who we've contacted.

I'm excited for General Conference.

Love you,

Elder Ressler

Provo MTC - September 15, 2015

There are only me and Elder Benson and three others in my zone that are going to the Baltimore mission. Half are going to North Carolina. There are five sisters and they are all going to Baltimore. They say the actual city is shut down to missionaries. I know we leave on Tuesday morning and there are a ton of elders and sisters going to Baltimore at the same time, like Elder Chambers. I actually did see him.

We had a fireside on Tuesday. On Sunday we had a devotional with someone I don't know and watched a talk by Elder Bednar on the character of Christ. Look it up.

Elder Benson is a good companion. We connect on a lot of things. There are so many sisters here, way more than I thought. There is a reason because in some ways they are a lot better. Tell the girls a mission is a good idea for them. I really miss you guys, but I haven't really thought about it too much. Don't miss me too much because I'm having a blast I don't think I've ever been happier.

The missionaries in my district and zone are all easy to get along with and awesome. I'm close with all of them. It's hard to teach sometimes. We have already taught five investigator lessons. I have actually lost weight because I only eat three meals instead of eight.

I know that this gospel is true. I'm actually really excited to go out to Baltimore because I know it's the place for me. Thanks for all the church trips we have been on. They were a privilege.

With love,

Elder Ressler

Provo MTC - September 11, 2015

I am alive! My companion is Elder Benson. He is awesome and we get along really well. He is actually from Big John's ward. I've seen Nate a few times and five other elders from school like Elder Chadwick and Chambers. Elder Chambers is actually not even in my branch. The people that sleep near my dorm are crazy so we get along really well. It hasn't hit me that I miss home yet.

With Love and the Spirit.

Your son,

Elder Ressler